Dispensing or vending machine



N 13, 1956 R. GALE 2,770,393

DISPENSING 0R VENDING MACHINE Filed Feb. 1, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 RONALD641E mmvron.

I w r w A T TORNE YJ Nmn 13, 1956 R. GALE DISPENSING OR VENDING MACHINEFiled Feb. 1, 1952 /e n as A O/mm 641.5

JNVENTOR.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov 13, 1956 R. GALE 2,770,393

DISPENSING OR VENDING MACHINE Filed Feb. 1, 1952 s Sheets-Sheet 3fPo/v/mp G445 .INVENTOR.

A TTURNE Yd.

United States Patent DISPENSING 0R VENDING MACHINE Ronald Gale, Elgin,Ill., assignor, by mesne assignments,

to Universal Vendor Company, Elgin, 11]., a corporation of DelawareApplication February 1, 1952, Serial No. 269,469

6 Claims. (Cl. 221-67) The present invention relates to dispensingdevices or vending machines and more particularly to a novel device orvending machine for dispensing bottles or the like.

Dispensing devices or vending machines for bottles of beverage or thelike should have a large storage capacity and the storage compartmentshould be so constructed and arranged that the bottles will be preventedfrom jamming during the vending or dispensing operations. Moreover, thedispensing device or vending machine should positively prevent thedischarge of more than one bottle during any one dispensing or vendingoperation and its operation should require a minimum expenditure ofeffort.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to pro vide a new andimproved dispensing device or vending machine for bottles or the like.

It is another object of the invention to provide a new and improveddispensing device or vending machine having a large storage compartmentwith means whereby the articles stored for dispensing are prevented fromjamming.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a new andimproved dispensing or vending mechanism for dispensing or vendingbottles or the like wherein the weight of the bottles trips or actuatesthe dispensing means.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a new and improveddispensing or vending mechanism, the operation of which is actuated orinitiated by the weight of the article such as a bottle to be dispensedand having novel locking or latching means for retaining the dispensingmechanism against actuation until released for selectively dispensingthe articles.

Briefly stated, the new and improved dispensing device or vendingmachine comprises a cabinet having a storage compartment provided with aplurality of racks inclined toward a central well. The racks are adaptedto support bottles or the like articles and to release them into thecentral well. A pair of rotatable vaned members disposed beneath and atthe opposite sides of the well cooperate with a central partition tosuccessively discharge the lowermost bottle or article in the well asthe vanes are progressively rotated. A locking or latching deviceincluding a toothed wheel and a pair of pivotally movable pawls limitthe degree of rotation of the vanes each time the locking or latchingdevice is actuated or initiated for dispensing a single bottle orarticle. The weight of the bottles or articles in the well resting uponthe vaned members causes these vaned members to rotate to discharge ordispense a single bottle or article each time the locking or latchingdevice is actuated.

For a better understanding of the invention reference may be had to thefollowing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawingand its scope will be pointed out in the claims.

, In the drawing,

2,770,393 Patented Nov. 13, 1956 ice Fig. 1 is a perspective view of apreferred embodiment of the novel dispensing or vending machine;

Fig. 2 is a rear or interior view of the front wall or door of thecabinet of the dispensing device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 4 andviewed in the direction of the arrows, with some portions shown brokenaway;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3 andviewed in the direction of the arrows, with some portions shown brokenaway;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the line 55 ofFig. 4 and viewed in the direction of the arrows, the view showing thelocking mechanism in one operative position;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 5 but showing the lockingmechanism in another operative position; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary rear plan view showing the manner in which thevaned members are connected for simultaneous rotary movement.

Referring now more particularly to the disclosure in the drawings, andto the novel illustrative embodiment therein shown, the dispensingdevice 10 comprises a storage cabinet 11 having a rear wall 12, side orend walls 13 and 14, and a front wall providing a door or closure 15pivofally or hingedly mounted on the wall 14 along one vertical edge bymeans of hinges or the like 16. A catch or latch 17 of any conventionaltype is provided on the other vertical edge of the door or closure 15 toengage with the side wall 13 for holding the front door or closure inclosed position.

The cabinet has a pair of inclined lower shelves 18 and 19 (Fig. 3)which slope downwardly toward a central, vertically arranged opening orwell 20 in the cabinet. Each of the shelves is provided with a pair ofangle members 21 and 22 (Fig. 4) on which bottles or the like A shown indotted outline may rest and roll downwardly into the central well 20.These shelves and :angle members form the lowermost storage racks in thecabinet.

Additional wire racks 23 are spaced apart Vertically over the shelves 18and 19 and they also incline downwardly and inwardly, toward the well20. These racks 23 are substantially U-shaped with the ends bentoutwardly to form oppositely extending projections 24 and the extremeends then bent downwardly to form the stop portions 25. The racks 23 atthe opposite sides of the compartment in the cabinet 11 are pivotallymounted on the interior of the side walls 13 and 14 by elongated bars orstraps 26 which are rigidly secured or atfixed to the walls by weldingor in any other conventional or suitable manner. The bars or straps 26are provided with spaced bent or curved portions 27 for receiving andthrough which the ends of the racks extend so that the oppositeprojections 24 are pivotally held between the side walls and the curvedor bent portions 27 so that the downwardly bent bight portions 28 of theracks 23 may pivot or swing upwardlyl The stop portions 25 limit thedownward pivotal movement of the racks 23 to that shown in Fig. 3.

The downwardlybent bight portion 28 of each rack provides a stop thatprevents bottles A resting on the next lower rack from passing into thecentral well 20 as long as bottles rest on the upper rack and preventupward pivotal movement of the upper rack. In addition, if,

bottles are in the well and adjacent thereto they contact the bightportions of lower racks to interfere with and prevent such lower racksfrom pivoting or swinging mp wardly. When no bottles rest on an upperrack 23 or in the well 20 contacting the bight portion of an upper rack,

v 3 and 4).

the bottle on the next lower rack 23 contacting the bight portion of therack directly thereabove, cams this upper rack upwardly as it descendsinto the well. In this manner, the bottles on the upper racks are passedinto the well to be dispensed before the bottles on the lower racks canpass into the central well. Since the bottles in each rack are held inplace until all the bottles in higher racks pass or are discharged intothe well and descend past the bight portion of such lower racks, jammingof bottles in the cabinet is most effectively prevented.

If desired, the racks 23 can be made of very resilient spring steel sothat the free ends can be rigidly instead of pivotally secured to theside walls, the racks flexing upwardly as the bottles on the rackstherebelow roll down.

The necks of bottles A held on each rack are supported by downwardlyinclined rods 29 which are pivotally held on the side walls by bars orstraps 30, one of which can be seen in Fig. 4. Each bar or strap 30 isrigidly secured or affixed to its side wall by welding or in any otherconventional or suitable manner. The rods 29 have their bent portions 31held between the transverse curved or bent portions 32 of the bar orstrap 30 and the associated side wall 13 or 14. Stop portion 33 limitthe downward movement of the rods 29 by engaging or abutting theassociated side wall.

The door or closure has a depressed or indented central vertical portion34 (Figs. 1, 2 and 4) which closes one side of the central well andagainst which engage the bottoms of the bottles A disposed in the well.The opposite side portions 35 and 36 extend outwardly or forwardly ofthe central portion 34 and are provided on the interior thereof with aplurality of inclined angle members 37 suitably afiixed thereto andwhich serve as guides since they engage the bottoms of the bottlesdisposed in the racks. The cabinet 10 is preferably tilted slightlyforward so that the bottles on the racks tend to slide toward the dooror closure and engage the guides.

The rear wall 12 and the rear edges of the side Walls 13 and 14 aresecured to and supported at their lower ends upon a rear plate 38 whilethe front edges of the side walls are secured to and supported upon afront plate 39 (Figs. 1 and 4). The'cabinet walls may be secured to therear and front plates 38 and 39 by welding, bolts or other securingmeans and in any conventional manner. The rear and front plates restupon and are secured to a pair of leg brackets 40 and 41, each in theform of an inverted U having a horizontal connecting angle member 42 and43, respectively, and depending legs 44 and 45 and legs 46 and 47,respectively. The plates may be secured to the leg brackets by weldingor other suitable anchoring means.

An inverted T-shaped partition or dividing member 48 extends between thefront and rear plates 38 and 39 (Fig. 3) below the shelves 18 and 19 andits vertical shank or stem 49 extends upwardly to a point substantiallylevel with the lower edges of a pair of depending guide plates 50 and 51which also extend between the front and rear plates. The guide platesextend downwardly from the inner and lowermost edges of the shelves andserve to define the lower portion of the central well 20. These guideplates and the dividing member 48 are rigidly secured or anchored to thefront and rear plates by welding or in any other suitable manner.

A pair of horizontally arranged shafts 52 and 53 are journaled in thefront and rear plates 38 and 39 and extend below the shelves on oppositesides of the dividing member 48. These shafts 52 and 53 are providedwith vaned members 54 and 55, respectively, which are rigidly secured tothe shafts and of substantial length (Figs. The rear ends of the shafts52 and 53 extend beyond the rear plate 38 and are provided withsprockets 56' and 57, respectively (Fig. 7). A third sprocket 58 isrotatably mounted on a stub shaft 59 which is journaled in the rearplate 38 and in the lower end of a bracket 60 whose upper end is securedto the rear wall 12 by a bolt or other securing means 61. A chain 62extends about the sprockets 57 and 58 and engages the upper portion ofthe sprocket 56 on the shaft 52 so that the shafts 52 and 53 will alwaysrotate simultaneously but in opposite directions.

It will now be apparent that the bottles in the central well pass oneither side of the shank or upwardly projecting stem 49 of the dividingmember 48 as the vaned members 54 and 55 rotate in the directionsindicated by the arrows in Fig. 3. The vanes of one of the vaned membersare asymmetrically disposed relative to the vanes of the other vanedmember so that bottles are dispensed or vended alternately by the twovaned members. For example, in the positions shown in Fig. 3, one vaneof the vaned member 55' and the flange 63 of the T-shaped dividingmember 48 support a bottle A. At the same time, a bottle is held betweena vane of the vaned member 54- and the vertical shank or stem 49 of thedividing member 48. If the shaft 53 is allowed to rotate approximatelyan eighth of a revolution, the weight of the bottle supported by thevaned member 55 will cause the vaned member 55 and shaft 53 to rotateand this bottle will descend to fall onto a chute 64 of a dispensingtrough and be dispensed thereby. Simultaneously, the shaft 52 willrotate approximately an eighth of a revolution until the bottlesupported by it rests on the opposite flange 65 of the dividing member48 and is retained between it and the member 54. A further one-eighthrevolution of the vaned members will allow the bottle supported by thevaned member 54 to descend and drop onto the chute 64. In this manner,the vaned members 54 and 55 discharge bottles alternately from the lowerend of the central well.

The chute 64 has a depending rear flange 66 abutting the rear plate 38and secured thereto by welding or in any other conventional manner. Theopposite sides of the chute are welded or otherwise secured to the frontplate 39.

A locking device or latching mechanism 67 is provided which allows aone-eighth revolution of the vaned members each time a handle 63 at thefront of the cabinet is turned. The looking or latching device (Figs. 5and 6) includes a ratchet wheel 69 provided with eight peripheral teeth70 which are adapted to be engaged by a pair of pawls or ratchets 71 and72. The pawl or ratchet 71 is shown integral with a pawl or ratchetlever 73 pivoted adjacent one end on a stub shaft 74 journaled in twospaced apart supporting plates '75 and 76 secured to the front plate 39by bolts or other securing means 77. The inner supporting plate '75 isalso secured to the front plate 39 by screws or the like 78.

The pawl or ratchet 72 is integral with or carried by g a cam plate 79pivoted on a stub shaft 80 journaled in the two supporting plates. Thecam plate has an irregular aperture 81 and cam surfaces 82 and 33defining this aperture and which cam surfaces lie in planessubstantially perpendicular to each other. A substantially L-shapedcamming lever 84 is pivoted by means of an integral shaft 85 journaledin the supporting plates 75 and 76. The front free end of the camminglever 84 has a lateral boss or projection 86 which is adapted to engageand ride against the lower curved portion 87 of the pawl or ratchetlever 73.

The mode of operation of the locking mechanism 67 can be best understoodby reference to Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawing. In Fig. 5, the pawls orratchets 71 and 72 are shown in the positions they assume immediatelyafter a dispensing operation has been completed and a bottle A has beendischarged to the chute 64. The pawl or ratchet 72 has engaged one ofthe teeth 70 of the ratchet wheel 69'to prevent further rotation of theshafts 52 and 53 and the pawl or ratchet 71 has been cammed to theposition shown by contact of the front edge 87 of a tooth 70 whichabutted the edge 88 of the pawl or ratchet 71. The pawl or ratchet 71and the pawl or ratchet lever 73 occupy this position only momentarilysince the pawl or ratchet lever will pivot downwardly under theinfiuence of gravity to a position in which the pawl or ratchet 71 willengage the next tooth 70 when the ratchet wheel 69 and the shaft 52 arefreed for further rotary movement. An arcuate recess 89 is formed in oneside of the pawl or ratchet lever 73 to receive the shaft 85 and therebyallowing the required degree of freedom of pivotal movement of the pawlor ratchet lever.

If the shaft 85 is now rotated clockwise by means of the handle 68secured thereto, the curved lower surface 90 of the camming lever 84will contact the camming surface 83 of the cam plate 79 and cause it torotate counterclockwise about its shaft 88. This counter-clockwisemovement of the cam plate will move the pawl or ratchet 72 out ofengagement with the tooth 70 it had been engaging and will allow theshaft 52 and ratchet wheel 69 to rotate in a clockwise manner. Theratchet wheel 69 will rotate considerably less than one-eighth of arevolution since the pawl or ratchet 71 is now in a position in the pathof travel of the next tooth 78 which it engages. The pawl or ratchetlever 73 is prevented from pivoting by the engagement of the lateralboss or projection 86 on the camming lever 84 with the curved portion 87of the pawl or ratchet lever.

If the handle 68 is now moved in a counter-clockwise direction, the knee91 of the camming lever 84 contacts the camming surface 82 of the camplate 79 and pivots the cam plate in a clockwise direction about itsshaft 80. This causes the pawl or ratchet 72 to move into the path oftravel of the next tooth 76) which now earns the pawl or ratchet 71outwardly and rotates downwardly to complete a full one-eighthrevolution of the ratchet wheel and the shaft 52. Another bottle will bedischarged to the chute 64 during this latter rotation of the shaft 52and the ratchet Wheel 69. Since each vaned member 54 and 55 has fourvanes, each one-eighth revolution of the shafts 52 and 53 will result inthe discharge of a bottle.

It will be seen now that a dispensing device or vending machine has beenillustrated and described in which bottles or the like may be stored ina cabinet 11 and are prevented from jamming therein by the provision ofpivoted racks 23 having depending portions 28 which prevent discharge ofthe bottles from any lower racks into a central well until the upperracks are emptied of bottles. It will also be seen that a pair of vanedmembers 54 and 55 cooperate with a dividing member 48 to dischargebottles alternately into a chute 64 when the shafts 52 and 53 are freedto rotate by a locking or latching mechanism 67. Moreover, it will beseen that the weight of the bottles in the central well provides theforce for rotating the vaned members and thus for operating thedispensing mechanism. Only a small force need, therefore, be employed toactuate the locking mechanism.

While a manually operated handle 68 has been shown as the means foractuating the locking mechanism, it will be apparent that other meansmay be employed. For eX- ample, coin operated mechanism employingsolenoids may be used to actuate the shaft 85 each time a coin isinserted in the coin operated mechanism. Moreover, the number of vaneson the vaned members and the number of teeth on the disk may be variedas desired, so long as they accomplish the stated result.

Although Fig. 3 of the drawings discloses bottles only on the lowershelves and in the lower portion of the well, it will be apparent thatwhen the present vending machine or dispensing mechanism is fully loadedall the racks 23 at each side of the cabinet and the center well 20 willbe filled to adjacent the top of the cabinet. Then as bottles aredispensed from the lower portion of the well, the depth of bottles inthe well is lowered to permit the upper racks to discharge bottles intothe upper part of the well so that the depth of bottles in the well islowered as the upper racks are depleted. As shown in Fig.

3, only a few of the bottles remain in the cabinet and the depletedsupply will shortly need replenishing.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, it will be apparent that various changes and modificationscan be made without departing from the invention, and it is intended,therefore, in the claims to cover all such changes and modifications asfall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In .an article dispensing device for a storage cabinet having aplurality of vertically spaced. racks inclining downwardly toward avertical well in the cabinet, spaced depending guide plates defining thelower end of the well, a dividing member disposed below the well andintermediate the guide plates, a pair of vaned members rotatably mountedbelow the storage cabinet on opposite sides of the dividing member andspaced therefrom with the vanes on said members asymmetrically arranged,means connecting said vaned members for causing simultaneous oppositerotation of said vaned members, said vaned members and said dividingmember cooperating to successively dispense articles from the verticalwell each time said vanes are rotated through a predetermined arc, saidarticles being dispensed alternately from opposite sides of the dividingmember, the weight of the articles in said vertical well tending tocause said vaned members to rotate, locking mechanism for controllingthe arc of travel of said vaned members, and means for actuating saidlocking mechanism to release said vaned members for rotation anddispensing an article.

2. A bottle dispensing device comprising a storage cabinet for bottlesand the like having an aperture for discharging bottles by gravity fromthe cabinet, a central well in the cabinet for receiving the bottles tobe dispensed, spaced depending plates defining the lower end of the wellthrough which the bottles drop in staggered relation, a dividing memberdisposed below the well and depending plates of said cabinet for causingbottles passing through said aperture to be directed to the oppositesides of the dividing member, a pair of vaned members rotatably mountedbelow said aperture with a vaned member at each of the opposite sides ofsaid dividing member and spaced therefrom, the vanes on one member beingasymmetrically arranged with respect to the vanes of the other member,means connecting said vaned members for causing simultaneous oppositerotation of said vaned members, said vaned members and said dividingmember cooperating to dispense a bottle passing through said apertureeach time said vanes are rotated through a predetermined arc of travel,said bottles being dispensed alternately from the opposite sides of thedividing member and the weight of the bottles passing through saidaperture causing said vaned members to rotate, locking means forcontrolling the arc of travel of said vaned members, and means foractuating said locking means to release said vaned members for rotationand dispensing a bottle.

3. In an article dispensing device for a storage cabinet having aplurality of vertically spaced racks mounted in said cabinet andinclining downwardly toward a vertical well in the cabinet, a dividingmember of substantially inverted T-shape disposed below the well, a pairof vaned members rotatably mounted below the storage cabinet with avaned member at each of the opposite sides of the dividing member andspaced therefrom; and the vanes on one member being asymmetricallyarranged with respect to the vanes on the other, means connecting saidvaned members for causing simultaneous opposite rotation thereof, saidvaned members and said dividing member cooperating to dispensesuccessive .articles from the vertical well each time said vanes arerotated through a predetermined arc of travel and with said articlesdispensed alternately from the opposite sides of the dividing memberwith the weight of the articles in said ver- 7 tical well causing saidvaned members to rotate, locking mechanism for controlling the arc oftravel of said vaned members, and means for actuating said lockingmechanism to release said vaned members for rotation and dispensing anarticle.

4. In an article dispensing device for .a storage cabinet having a pairof vaned dispensing members mounted below a well in the cabinet andconnected for simultaneous but opposite rotation and means foralternately delivering an article to be dispensed to a vaned member androtating said member by the weight of the articles in the well, lockingmeans for allowing said vaned members to rotate through a predeterminedarc of travel each time the locking means is actuated, said lockingmeans including a member connected to one of said vaned members forrotation therewith and provided with a plurality of teeth, a pawl levermounted adjacent said toothed member for pivotal movement toward andaway from said teeth and having a first pawl engageable with said teeth,a cam plate having a second pawl spaced from said first pawl forengaging said teeth, said cam plate being pivotally mounted adjacentsaid toothed member, and a cam lever operatively associated with saidcam plate and said pawl lever for moving said second pawl into the pathof movement of said teeth and simultaneously allowing said pawl lever topivot to permit disengagement of said first pawl from engagement withone of said teeth, said teeth camming said first pawl out of engagementwith said teeth.

5. In an article dispensing device for a storage cabinet containing aplurality of articles to be dispensed from a well and having a pair ofvaned members mounted for rotation below said well and connected forsimultaneous opposite rotation for alternately dispensing an article byone of said vaned members each time said vaned members are rotatedthrough a predetermined anc of travel with the weight of the articles insaid well causing said vaned members to rotate, locking means forallowing said vaned members to rotate through a predetermined arc oftravel each time the locking means is actuated, said locking meansincluding a toothed wheel connected to one of said vaned members forrotation therewith and provided with a plurality of teeth, a pawl levermounted adjacent said wheel for pivotal movement toward and away fromsaid teeth and having a first pawl engageable with said teeth, a camplate having a second pawl spaced from said first pawl for engaging saidteeth, said cam plate being pivotally mounted adjacent said wheel, and acam lever operatively associated with said cam plate and said pawl leverfor moving said second pawl into the path of movement of said teeth andsimultaneously allowing said pawl lever to pivot to permit disengagementof said first pawl from engagement with one of said teeth, said teethcamming said first pawl out of engagement with said teeth.

6. In a dispensing device for vending articles such as bottles and thelike, comprising a storage cabinet having a well from which successivearticles are singly dispensed, a pair of vaned members rotatably mountedbelow the storage cabinet at the opposite sides of the well, meansconnecting said vaned members for causing simultaneous opposite rotationof said vaned members, said vaned members dispensing article from thelower end of the vertical well each time said vanes are rotated througha predetermined arc, the vanes of said members being asymmetricallyarranged whereby the successive articles are dispensed alternately fromthe opposite sides of the dividing member with the Weight of thearticles in said vertical well tending to cause said vaned members torotate, locking means for allowing said vaned members to rotate throughbut a predetermined are each time the locking means are actuated, saidlocking means including a toothed member connected to one of said vanedmembers for rotation therewith and provided with a plurality of teeth, apawl lever mounted adjacent said toothed memher for pivotal movementtoward and away from said teeth and having a first pawl engageable withsaid teeth, a cam plate having a second pawl spaced from said first pawlfor engaging said teeth, said cam plate being pivotally mounted adjacentsaid toothed member, and a cam lever operatively associated with saidcam plate and said pawl lever for moving said second pawl into the pathof movement of said teeth and simultaneously allowing said pawl lever topivot to permit disengagement of said first pawl from engagement withone of said teeth, said teeth camming said first pawl out of engagementwith said teeth.

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